Stickwomen Play to 2-2 Tie

Since the Princeton and Harvard field hockey teams both have strong overall records and have been similarly frustrated in Ivy League contests, Saturday's 2-2 tie was probably fitting.

The teams, however, did not equally deserve the deadlock.

Although the Tigers (7-2-4, 3-1-2 Ivy) played well, Harvard (8-2-2, 2-1-2 Ivy) suceeded in running circles around them for large portions of the game.

The final statistics gave Harvard a slight edge in shots (32-23), but more telling were the lopsided numbers for the second half, in which the dominant Crimson forced 10 corners, and fired 18 shots to Princeton's five.

"This tie feels like losing--Harvard had a great game," Princeton Coach Beth Bozman said. "We were definately flat and we wanted to come out strong. We picked it up for moments but we needed more consistency."

Harvard set the tone for the game early, executing some nice combinations and wide-out passes. Harvard got on the board when senior Loren Ambinder broke from the pack, carried the ball down the sideline, and slipped it across to sophomore Sarah Downing.

Tigers goalie Melanie Orpen came out to challenge Downing, but the forward deftly shot the ball by her, giving Harvard a 1-0 lead at 20:29.

Ten minutes later, Princeton came back with a vengence. It pushed for two quick corners and scored on both of them. Sophomore forward Kim Simons tallied the first goal at 8:29, and freshman midfielder Amory Rowe fired the second past goalie Lisa Yadao a minute later.

"We were on the attack for such long periods that when Princeton pressed we had trouble adjusting," Harvard Coach Sue Caples said.

Right Back at You

Before Princeton had time to enjoy its 2-1 cushion, however, Harvard worked some of its own corner magic. Senior Kristen Fowler drilled the ball by Orpen for her seventh goal of the season and knotted the game at 2-2.

"Harvard's offense was more challenging because of their great corners," Orpen said. "Its really impressive that even on grass they can hit and flick from the same mark."

The fireworks of the first half were somewhat unexpected, considering the caliber of netminders Yadao and Orpen. In the second half, the shooters from both teams faced a tougher task.

The Crimson played as well in this period as they've played all season. Harvard's ball-pursuit, passing, and free hits gave Princeton fits.

There was only one problem.

"With the amount of times we had shots, you'd think we could have scored," Downing said. "They could hit the ball but they didn't have great speed."

"Its a game of inches--we need to find the holes, not the keeper." Caples said. "A goal is just a pass, and the net is bigger than a person's stick."

Harvard closed out regulation with two near misses. One corner shot rang off the post and a Fowler flick just barely glanced off Orpen's out-stretched stick.

Princeton rose to the occasion in the overtime periods, but Yadao (19 saves) made three acrobatic blocks in the waning minutes of the final overtime session.

"We had it, we were there, but just couldn't finish," Yadao said. "We are an excellent team on the verge of clicking and it will come. A lot of people came out today and played an excellent game for us."

Hang In There

The Crimson's Ivy League hopes may be a thing of the past but Caples correctly put this in perspective.

"Every team comes to play Harvard like its a championship game," Caples said. "We need to match that intensity. Brown, Cornell and now Princeton--that's only three blemishes and two of them are ties."

Harvard, with its impressive 8-2-2 record, is highly regarded in the region and nation. This afternoon, the Crimson travels to Storr, Conn., to face the top-10 Huskies in a make up of an earlier rainout.